


Not Quite Expected

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Midnight Verse [16]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe, Future Fic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 07:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Prey in sight, the Trine moves, even as the Autobots set a new course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Quite Expected

The debate on how best to go about destroying their enemy had quickly devolved into typical trine pushing and shoving and bullying. Skywarp, as usual, argued stridently to go directly after Soundwave. Thundercracker had disagreed, declaring that they needed intelligence on the situation and a cassetticon would provide that, plus it could be used as bait in a trap once they had the information.

Which had brought Starscream's suggestion that they go after Ravage, as the most dangerous of the group, and that was when the fighting among the three really began.

Thundercracker was still not certain how in all of Cybertron he had prevailed, pointing out Ravage was far too dangerous and wily to attempt trapping. After all, the silent cat-former was very likely the oldest Cybertronian in existence on Earth at the current moment, unless there was truth to the rumor of that rambling Autobot Kup being one of the first-line models. 

They then decided that Laserbeak would suit their purposes with far more ease, and the three put their plans in motion.

`~`~`~`~`

Midnight came out of recharge with a jolt, sitting up on her berth, her optics flashing blue light across the dark walls of her quarters, her processor attempting to determine what had snapped her out of the cycle. 

There was nothing in the room with her, her racing processor was finally willing to accept, and she sat still on the berth, running a quick diagnostic on herself. Everything but her main engine was running at baseline, as it should be, and she turned her attention to calming that system, still entirely confused. There was no reason for her to be online at this hour.... and yet, she was more than certain that she wasn't going to get back to recharge any time soon. 

She felt -- lighter, steadier... and oddly settled, as though something she hadn't even known was wrong was better, now. She got up onto her pedes and headed for Teletraan-1's bay, just to see what was going on in the world. 

Somehow it was not very surprising that Jazz was in there, listening to music while he scanned reports and tried to figure out how to break into the Decepticon headquarters again. He looked her way on entry, and flashed a bright smile.

"If it isn't our very own Bitling," he teased her. "Isn't it your recharge cycle? Pretty sure I saw your name on daylight rosters..."

"Not a Bitling any more," Midnight protested, even as she flashed a smile back at him, amused at his words. She walked on over, pulling up a chair to sit close to him. "It is, but I think I'm done for the cycle. Came awake all of a sudden, no idea why, and I just don't feel like trying to go back down. Thought I'd come see what was going on in the world -- or worlds, as the case might be?"

Jazz gave a flick of amusement in his fields at her protest, then did a very human shrug of his shoulders. "Nothing I can tell. Decepticon sightings are at an all-time low, and none of the humans have tried to destroy themselves lately."

"...doesn't that normally mean something really awful is going to happen?" Midnight asked, then shook her helm slightly. " -- I know, I know, I'm too young to be such a cynic." 

"Leave the cynicism to Prowl; looks better on him." Jazz vented slightly. "They're not making it easy for us to figure out how to approach them, that's for sure. Been trying to work that one out for Prime and getting nowhere. It's like I just can't see out of the box we set ourselves in, Bitlet."

Midnight cocked her helm, stretching one hand out to lay it on his shoulder as she watched the changes in his frame. 'Body language', Spike called it, and in his she could see all of his frustration. Jazz was one of the cleverest mechs she knew, that he couldn't see a way to talk to them, when talking was what he did best... that bothered her. "Did Uncle Sky come talk to you?" 

"He requested to be at the last command meeting, but that was right as Grimlock and his crew got spotted by a bunch of dinosaur enthusiasts over in Utah." Jazz had had so much fun talking to the local law on that one. He could not believe how many areas of the world still hadn't paid attention to the fact they had been protecting Earth for decades now. "We haven't had a make-up meeting yet."

Midnight snorted, amused, and shook her head. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you -- but he's probably right that _he_ needs to tell the rest of Command." She flattened her hand a little more on his plating, and tapped very lightly against his comm frequency. 

Jazz shifted into the touch... he had a sensor under that plate that had been buggy enough to 'itch', and opened the comm to her. ::Skyfire usually has good advice. Can't wait to hear this.::

She snorted across the band, and settled with her hand still spread there. ::That's why I went to pester him,:: she agreed. ::Thundercracker came to see me again, the other day, and he -- he was so upset that he was shaking in my arms.:: 

::That... is not good.:: Jazz couldn't imagine any Decepticon showing fragility to an Autobot, let alone anyone.

::No,:: she agreed quietly. ::It wasn't. He didn't tell me exactly what had happened -- I didn't really want to ask, either -- just that he'd 'lost' Skywarp. That his mate wasn't his any more -- which freaked Uncle Sky out something terrible.:: 

::Skyfire knows more about their culture than we can. It's one reason he … endures the antics of the Aerialbots, so he can teach them what he knows.:: Jazz was vaguely amused, remembering the various incidents of Silverbolt's team getting themselves in hot water.

Midnight had to giggle at that, but she did manage to keep it to the comm link. ::That makes sense. He's really worried -- first he tried to tell me it wasn't possible, and then he got freaked at the idea of the bonds Seekers make being that corrupted, and the damage it must've done to their processors. Then he got all _set_ , and was almost growling something about pinning Starscream down while the rest of you catch Megatron and deal with him...:: 

Jazz twitched and almost came out of his chair at the idea of baseline corruption like that. If Skyfire was jumping that far, it had to be real and serious. ::Slag us all, what happened? Why haven't we realized it? How can we fix this... and I'm voting Grimlock in as first charge to catch Megatron. No way in the Pits am I letting your Papa do it!::

::Don't know, and don't know, Jazz,:: Midnight sent, the feeling of Jazz's distress almost reassuring. She'd known something was terribly wrong, and so far everyone she'd told thought so, too. ::On your side about sending Grimlock and his crew in first, I don't want Papa on point for that, either.:: 

It might be selfish, but she'd seen the damage her Papa would take in those fights too many times already. 

Jazz cycled his vents, then put a priority message in every line-officer's inbox that there would be a command staff meeting first thing on day cycle, and Skyfire was to attend. He wanted this out in the open as fast as he could get it there, hoping it helped him see the best way to continue.

::Thanks, Bitlet.::

::Sure thing,:: Midnight sent, smiling at him again. ::Maybe this's why I woke up in the first place. Things feel like they're changing.::

::Pretty certain they are, Midnight. Pretty sure it started when the Matrix helped cook you into being,:: Jazz told her.

She shook her head, wanting to argue -- but it really did seem like this kind of _was_ her fault. Really, she was okay with that, though, if it meant an end to this stupid, endless war. 

`~`~`~`~`

Thundercracker was the one on the _Nemesis_ ' bridge when Megatron bellowed at Soundwave to send Laserbeak to investigate the latest of the reported Autobot movements in the desert near the isthmus of their continent. No sooner had Soundwave left for the lift to the surface than he reached for his mate. ::'Warp. Laserbeak's going out. Won't be expected back for hours.:: He'd passed the 'out' location along with the words, giving 'Warp any easy range of coordinates to jump for. 

Getting back off the bridge in order to help his trine deal with the avian cassette was going to be the worst turbulence of it all, but the chance would come. Rather or not it would come before Skywarp started 'warping off bits of wing... that one he wasn't so certain of. 

Skywarp was more than pleased to be able to get his aft out of the ship and up into the air with prey to hunt. He very nearly 'forgot' to pass on to Starscream that he was doing so, eager to rend the cassetticon to pieces all on his own. But the scheming Air Commander had been blunt, and fierce, in his assertion that they would debrief Laserbeak together.

::Screamer, catching the winged cyber rat in a few kliks.::

::Good!:: Starscream's glee and anticipation came through, along with the solid sense of knowledge that Skywarp would not fail him. ::You know where to bring him.:: He refocused to the link with Thundercracker, and was less pleased to take in the sense of being on the bridge. ::You are needed more important places!:: he sent to his trine-mate.

::I know, but do _you_ wanna tell Megatron that?:: Thundercracker snapped back. ::I'll get to you as soon as I get an opening.::

::Tell the rust-bucket to frag himself,:: Starscream grumbled. He was not willing to grant the former gladiator a single micrometer of forgiveness for all the insults and slights in what had once been a strong alliance. ::Fine, then. Volunteer to explore the next anomaly.::

//You're the only one that glitched, 'Scream,// Thundercracker wasn't about to say it, much as he was certain he was right. ::No, I thought I'd just sit here and let Dirge go investigate. Teach a glitchmouse to chew cables next.:: 

::Slag off, or I'll dent your tail-fins next time I see you,:: Starscream griped at him cheerfully, knowing that the real power moves were close at hand. He transformed from his hidden base and took off for the volcanic chain of islands the squishies called Hawai'i. There was a volcano there that made for very sensor scrambling data feeds, a place perfect for hiding someone that was bond-linked to another. Once he was in the air, it was an easy matter to make the _Nemesis_ systems react to a hack-feed, producing something that would need investigating on its sensor readouts.

That was entirely too convenient to be real, and he was not going to enjoy Megatron's temper when he returned with no solid information, but Thundercracker spoke up as soon as Reflector drew attention to the anomaly. He locked everything but annoyed curiousity down as he headed off the bridge and for the lift -- prudent, as he nearly had to brush past Soundwave on his way out. 

The comm officer did not look out of sorts at all; Skywarp must not have acquired Laserbeak yet, or else Soundwave was even icier than anyone could have thought. Either way, Thundercracker slipped by with an impression that the cassette master had barely bothered to notice his presence, even while he knew that was just the way Soundwave kept everyone believing.

`~`~`~`~`

Once, long ago, Skywarp had enjoyed hunting. He was just as avid a sportsman as the Tower mechs, and had long resented the fact that some reserves were off-limits to 'his kind' because of said Tower mechs.

He'd never gotten to hunt sentients until the war, and even though he did occasionally hear Thundercracker's issues with that, he had to admit it was far more challenging to track and catch something that could think beyond instinctive programs.

Laserbeak, true to his cowardly nature, knew he was being hunted, but Skywarp had not let the bird-former glimpse him on optic or sensor, save as a data ghost. He was prolonging the hunt, so his trine mates could get where they needed to be first.

::Well? Have you gotten it yet?!:: came an impatient snap from Starscream.

::Not yet. Figured I needed to give you time to get there, given how slow you fly these cycles,:: Skywarp insulted back, but all his systems came fully online for the catch. A series of jumps, designed to frustrate and confuse the prey were pre-programmed, and Skywarp readied a special missile that deployed an unbreakable net for the one shot he would get.

::I'll show you slow, when I get my hands on your stabilizers,:: Starscream grumbled lightly, before stepping back in the link to merely savor Skywarp's skills in this hunt.

Laserbeak was on guard, but his sensors told him it was a squad of at least five fliers, which equated to Superion's individual components as far as his logic returned. Even as he calculated an escape path with this purported data, though, the real danger was materializing out of nowhere, firing once with stunning blasts before the net missile was away.

In the end, Laserbeak had neither managed to squawk to his keeper, nor truly identify his attacker, too set on protecting his struts from Superion to realize a fellow Decepticon had taken him down.

`~`~`~`~`

Some cycles seemed absolutely set on testing the limits of Skyfire's patience. He knew the bond between he and Starscream was a nuisance to his erstwhile mate, but it still existed. There should have been nothing that could prevent Skyfire from using it to home in on Starscream, no matter where on this planet the Seeker was.

Skyfire, however, could only tell that Starscream was NOT on the underwater Decepticon ship, nor in either of the known land bases used by the Decepticons as a whole. A vague sense of a direction, but not of distance was on the fringe of the connection they shared.

"Where are you, Starscream?" he murmured across his internal speakers, flying in a slow search pattern as he tried again to get any sense of where his errant mate had taken himself to. 

Hidden under the strange volcano, Starscream was waiting alone with their prey, analyzing the readings that he had _not_ expected to find. Skywarp was finishing his supposed patrol, and Starscream had offered Thundercracker the location of one of the fuel centers that was poorly guarded to take as a peace offering for his leaving the bridge.

Unfortunately, Starscream's concentration kept fracturing under the strain of continually beating the processor virus back under its containment field and some external sense of … something. Irritably, he started building a new virus block, mutating his algorithm to defend himself. Focused so much on himself, though, left him more open to those who might try seeking him out via comms or bonds.

Skyfire had almost banked to return to the city when the nebulous sense of his mate solidified for a moment. South and west, towards the central islands of the great ocean below him. He did not try for a stronger grasp of the bond, merely turning to follow it for as long as he could. 

Starscream got a better grip on his processor's defenses, and then pushed himself to concentrate again on the work at hand.

"You should not be infected," he muttered darkly at the dormant frame of their prey before losing himself in understanding the permutations of the virus to write a counter for the symbiont.

It took very little time for Skyfire to reach any place he badly wished to be. He hovered high above the small landmasses, easily avoiding the routes of the incoming human planes, and tried again to home in on Starscream. This time he caught the sense of Starscream deep, deep in calculations -- a sensation that had once been as familiar as air over his wings or the pressure of vacuum -- and a better sense of his location. One of the volcanoes... 

He descended, attempting to discern where Starscream had hidden himself. Hidden himself. 

**That** was utterly unlike his mate, yet it must be true. 

The volcanoes, by and large, were much like the one that had buried the Ark, though these were far more active. Nothing all that unusual at all... except his sensors kept bending away from one of the peaks.

He might not have noticed it at all, had he not been seeking his mate -- and wasn't seeking supposed to be Starscream's job, not his? -- so intently. As he had, however, the deflection was more akin to one of the humans' neon signs, and he headed straight for that peak, attempting to find an entrance with only passive sensors. Many vent-holes existed, but only one truly seemed to be large enough for a mech of Starscream's wingspan to enter... and it showed signs of having been smoothed by lasers. 

Inside, Starscream was readying the module that would 'infect' Laserbeak, and hopefully bring the symbiont's clever mind to Starscream's side on figuring out this complete mess.

Skyfire transformed, carefully settling to his pedes near the entrance, flicking his optics across the size of the opening. It was -- just barely, but it was -- large enough for him to enter. This was very likely near-suicidal, entering a bolt-hole of the Decepticon second in command... but then again, he might well be able to keep Starscream within it long enough to make a difference. 

::Jazz,:: he sent across the distance, ::I think I've found him. Wish me luck?:: 

He did not wait for a response, shutting off the comm before he began the careful process of working his way down inside the volcano. 

Distantly, Jazz wished him that, then went to prep Grimlock's team for action. Skyfire was either the bravest or craziest mech in this whole plan, but Jazz had to roll with it.

Starscream had just placed the tiny frame hacker on Laserbeak, letting it begin insinuating its data cords into place when he heard the scrape of metal on rock. He spun, instantly bringing up his null-rays, because neither trine mate was supposed to return here. "If you've managed to call down your brethren, I will make spare parts of you!" Starscream muttered at the still unconscious symbiont.

"Brethren?" Skyfire asked, shifting his entire frame to look into the open space he could feel close by, his optics searching over the entire scene. 

"Oh, it's just you," Starscream said, letting his null-rays power down, before he glared. "Why are you invading my space!?" He shifted to hide the illegal machine he was using, trying to make his wingspan block Skyfire from knowing too much of what he was doing.

Only Starscream, Skyfire thought, his mouth curving just a little in aching amusement. Who had he been expecting, that he had relaxed so much for his voice instead? That those dangerous null-rays no longer glowed with power was slightly reassuring -- but only slightly. He had seen how fast Starscream could snap off shots from them now. There was a mech on the table behind Starscream, small and dark, but his bright wings mostly concealed it from view. //Brethren, dark, small... no-one of _ours_ is missing...//

"Because I'm concerned, Starscream," Skyfire said softly, continuing to maneuver his way out of the tunnel. "I've been concerned, but I have hardly caught a glimpse of you since the last time we spoke." 

"Concerned? About me?" The coyly playful tone gave way to mocking laughter. "Dear, silly old Skyfire, don't you know by now that I _always_ come out on top?" Starscream watched his //lover, spark-mate, companion// latest threat come fully into view.

Skyfire huffed air out in a long, humanish sigh, his optics watching his mate steadily as he shifted around enough to settle on the floor of the chamber. Even seated, he had to flatten his wings as far down as he could shift them, and his helm was nearly at the rock roof, but it was not entirely uncomfortable. 

"I did read the history Teletraan-1 could provide me," he said mildly. He would let Starscream's own temper and vanity realize that the entire span of the war rather gave the lie to those words. 

"Bah!" Starscream threw out a buzz of staticky energy... robust and full of vitality this time... before continuing. "Autobot propaganda!"

"Possibly," Skyfire said mildly, even as he analyzed that energy, comparing it to his mate's perilously low levels earlier. It was better, _much_ better -- for values of better that could only mean harm to his friends and his 'niece' -- than Starscream had been. "But I know what you once wished, and I have heard you on many a battlefield since I awakened again." 

He might, or might not, have to _say_ that when Starscream's proclaimed desires were so patently unreached, his vain mate had been doing nothing but uselessly blustering. 

Starscream's optics sharpened, narrowing down to pinpricks, and he advanced on Skyfire in irritation... which took his fields and bulk out of the careful placement to shield Laserbeak's frame. "You are a nuisance to me, Skyfire!" he snapped, keeping his anger near his core to avoid the draw of his sparkmate so close and alone and in his own space.

"I wish I could be otherwise, Starscream," Skyfire said, watching those narrowed optics with a flicker of unease. Starscream had always been dangerous when provoked, and if his processor was suffering from the time without fuel and the damage to Thundercracker and Skywarp, he would be even moreso. "I have wished otherwi -- what are you _doing?!_ " 

Starscream did not facepalm; that was too human. He did start cursing in his own processor, before snarling an answer. "Working!" He spun on his pede, going back to the workbench to see if the hacker had fully connected itself.

"...on _what_?" Skyfire asked, his voice still betraying the sheer amount of his shock and utter confusion. He had never been anything like a student of politics or power -- Starscream had always more than had those necessities under his control -- but even he had seen the unstable situation between the highest-ranked of the Decepticons. Acting against Laserbeak could not end well for his mate, and that made his fields and spark pulse with concern. 

Starscream huffed and guided one last connection into the proper seam for it to make a connection to the processor net. "Oh don't be so prissy, Sky." Starscream hesitated before savagely flipping the switch on to start pushing the anti-virus across into Laserbeak's system. "Well, if you are here, you can plug the exit, so he doesn't get loose until his processor reboots properly!" He tried to discern how much could be trusted to his one-time //lifetime// partner of the situation.

"I hardly think 'prissy' is an applicable word, given that I do recognize what you have there!" Skyfire said, but Starscream inviting him to be a part of whatever his mate was doing, instead of trying to force him away, was too much of a peace offering to ignore. He shifted towards the opening, spreading his wings and limbs across it. "I saw multiple vents on the exterior..."

"I plugged all that led to this chamber with very small ventilation fans that I don't believe he can get past." Starscream set up a monitor that both could watch as the base code was accessed and overwritten. "He's infected. He has to be hacked to the most basic level to employ an anti-virus, and then I have to give him the programming necessary to monitor against it, as I have yet to be able to eradicate the nanites responsible for the code-virus," Starscream said.

At first, Skyfire focused on the monitor, observing the data streaming swiftly across it, as he listened to Starscream's words. Then, though, 'infected' and 'nanites' had his full attention, and his optics snapped back up to Starscream's frame and faceplates. "What kind of a virus?" 

Starscream let a snarling rain of profanity fall out of his mouth, in decided Vosian cant, until he could be a little more helpful. "It degrades the functioning ability of the higher processor. It limits the ability of the infected to operate outside of certain base personality ranges. And this is the fourth mech I have cleared of the cursed thing!"

//Fourth? Himself. Thundercracker, Skywarp? Most likely [oh, Midnight, if Thundercracker hurts you I may damage him myself...]. And now... Laserbeak? Why a cassette?// "That," he murmured softly, "is _vile_. May I see the code?" 

Starscream changed the monitor to a split display and showed the mutating code he had gleaned from his trine mates and himself. "It adapts," he hissed. "We had decided Soundwave was the origin point." An irritable flick of a digit at the symbiont followed that. "This proves otherwise, because there is no feasible manner of thought that can lead to a carrier poisoning its own charges." That much was plain truth in Starscream's world, as convoluted as he often made his own existence, that he could not deny.

Skyfire burned the data deep into his processor, storing it for later -- for Ratchet and Perceptor to analyze -- as he listened to Starscream's hissed-out temper. "...I certainly can not think of one that would yield such an action," he agreed. 

"What will you do once you have cleared Laserbeak's processor for the moment? If the virus causes irrationality..." 

"I need to contain him. Then..." Starscream smiled, and let his wings flex seductively. "Well, I plan to be my charming self at him, so he can cure his master. And then! Then I will discover who has done this to me and mine!" the Seeker finished on a growl.

//Charming?// Skyfire raised a browplate for a moment. Starscream was many things: beautiful, brazen, brilliant, talented, and impossibly seductive when he wanted to be, but _charming_ was not a word even Skyfire would put to his name. That low, growled threat... oh, that was dangerous _indeed_ , but thankfully -- or at least, in Primus's name it had better not be -- no threat to his friends. Possibly for the first time in thousands of vorns, Starscream's rage (and a justified rage, at that) was targeted in a direction not the Autobots. 

"Now just to make certain the cyber-chicken listens..." Starscream grumbled but he did not, Skyfire noticed, make use of the frame hack to enforce that wish. Instead, he started clearing the waste bench and producing energon treats that could be considered bribes.

"I have seen you when you're determined to be persuasive," Skyfire murmured softly in response, watching as Starscream worked. That his mate had not simply enforced his will on Laserbeak.... was more a sign of hope than anything he had seen since his reawakening. 

"It is utterly necessary or I would just... deal with it all! However, Laserbeak is clever and sees much. Ravage is possibly the eldest Cybertronian in existence and may have experience I desire. Soundwave, for all his monotonous, boring existence, is useful in analyzing their inputs," Starscream rationalized. He wasn't about to admit he had no idea who on Earth could have done this to them all.

"Those are all good reasons," Skyfire agreed, tucking Starscream's insights away to consider them later. "...what are you going to do, once there is a solution to this virus?" 

Starscream looked at his mate, smile gone tight and sharp. "What I do best. I believe Skywarp mentioned event horizons in the future of its originator." He then noted something flicker through Skyfire, maybe disappointment? and stepped inside Skyfire's fields fully. "The war, Sky, is … an institution of our lives. Let me save my half of our race first before dealing with wresting control from Megatron?"

Skyfire's optics blinked in surprise, and then he lifted one hand, spreading it carefully against the shining expanse of one broad wing, letting the feeling of Starscream's fields and plating against him sink in deep. That was... Starscream offering something like a compromise. He would take what he could get. "So it has become," he agreed, then nodded a little more firmly. "That... that makes sense. All right." 

Starscream did _not_ push that wing in tighter against Skyfire's touch. It just settled that way as Starscream prepared to deal with the rebooting symbiont.


End file.
